Elucidating the bacterial communities and their hydrolytic enzyme activities during the southwest monsoon season, along the west coast of India

The west coast of India (WCI) is signified by increased primary productivity during the southwest monsoon season. In this study, the bacterial counts and the cultivable communities were enumerated from water depths and sediment samples at stations, off Goa, Mangalore and Trivandrum along the WCI during the monsoon season. The results reveal that the bacterial morphotypes isolated from this study included representatives from Firmicutes (70%), Proteobacteria (20%) and Actinobacteria (5%) phylum. Phylum Firmicutes had a major representation at Trivandrum and Mangalore locations compared to those from Goa. However, the Proteobacteria phylum was more prevalent in the Goa location compared to the other two locations. The morphotypes at the genera level also showed distinct spatial variations and taxa specific to each of the three locations could also be identified through Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). Spatial variations in hydrolytic enzyme activities were also observed, with bacterial morphotypes isolated from water samples of Trivandrum exhibiting comparatively higher activities than the Goa and Mangalore sediment samples. These findings enhance our understanding of bacterial diversity and their functional roles along the WCI, emphasizing their significance in biogeochemical cycling processes.